Murder suspect: 'It was not supposed to end like this'

By Debra Friedman, STAFF WRITER

Published 7:18 pm, Thursday, March 11, 2010

STAMFORD -- Sitting hunched over in a gray sweatsuit, a Pemberwick man charged with murder Thursday described his blurry recollection of the 2008 fatal attack that left his ex-daughter-in-law with 49 stab marks and three gunshot wounds.

During the second day of trial in state Superior Court, Gerardo Lombardi, 77, of 38 Nicholas Ave., testified that he became nervous that land surveyors would damage an oil tank installed between his property and the property next door at 36 Nicholas Ave., where the victim, Alison McKnight, was gardening. That anxiety led him outside where he confronted McKnight about her plans to erect a fence on the property on the morning of Sept. 4, 2008, he said.

"I said, Alison, come over here, I want to talk to you. She turn around and come to me with (garden) clippers in her hand. I said put that down, I have a gun in my belt."

Then Lombardi, who spoke in a thick Italian accent, explained how his memory dissolved after the first shot went off.

"When I pull out the gun I saw one shot. After that, I heard nothing. I was blind. I went to the knife and started to swing it. Not 40 times, I barely had a chance to swing it five times," he said.

"You know that Alison suffered severe injuries," asked Ehring.

"Yeah, I know," said Lombardi. "I take the gun and knife and I was going to go to the police station." Lombardi also described a struggle between him and McKnight when he first pointed the gun.

"How do you feel about it now," asked Ehring.

"I feel very bad," said Lombardi. "It was not supposed to end like this."

But on cross-examination, the prosecutor asked Lombardi if he remembered telling police just hours after the crime that he had no regrets and called McKnight a "witch."

"I do remember, but I was mad," said Lombardi.

According to testimony, Lombardi built the properties at 38 and 36 Nicholas Ave., but became distraught when McKnight obtained one of the houses in a divorce from his son, which later led to the attack.

Before the state rested its case Thursday morning, they called a medical examiner and McKnight's daughter to the stand. The medical examiner testified that the three shots hit McKnight in her mouth, scalp and torso. He said at least five stab wounds punctured the liver and were considered life threatening. Other wounds punctured her throat, eyelid and back.

Jessica Lombardi, 25, the daughter of McKnight, described how her parents divorced because of her father's alcoholism and because he had a child with another woman. She said after the divorce, the already lukewarm relationship between her mother and Gerardo Lombardi, her paternal grandfather, deteriorated.

"They didn't have a very warm relationship, but during the holidays she would make cookies and send him a Christmas card," recalled Jessica Lombardi, who referred to her slain mother as her "best friend."

"Did there come a time when the relationship somewhat soured?" asked Senior State's Attorney Paul Ferencek. "Yes, after my mom got the house (36 Nicholas Ave.)," Lombardi replied. "He was trying to get money from the divorce and trying to have her pay him when she never agreed to do it."

Lombardi said she, her mother and her younger brother were preparing to move into 36 Nicholas Ave., because the divorce agreement stated they would lose money if they didn't occupy the house for several years prior to selling it.

Joseph Lombardi, McKnight's ex-husband, then took the stand for the defense telling the three-judge panel how upset his father was when he learned McKnight won custody of 36 Nicholas Ave., in which he allegedly invested $80,000 to help construct.

On cross-examination, Ferencek repeatedly questioned Joseph Lombardi about a statement his father made weeks before the crime occurred.

"He said if the law couldn't help him, he would handle it himself," Lombardi recalled after reading his statement to police in 2008. Joseph Lombardi said he believed at the time it could have been a threat of physical violence.

On Tuesday, several police officers and a land surveyor who witnessed part of the attack testified for the state. Lombardi is charged with murder, but the defense may argue Lombardi suffered from an extreme emotional disturbance at the time of the slaying, which would give the judges the ability to convict him of a lesser charge like manslaughter.

Testimony resumes Friday when an expert witness is expected to testify for the defense.